GHA has launched a new campaign to help thousands of vulnerable tenants beat the freezing winter temperatures.

The ‘WinterReady’ campaign offers GHA tenants who are over 60 or disabled a free home check to make sure their house is fully geared up to deal with the worst of the weather.

Anyone eligible who requests a home check will be visited by a plumber in their home.

The plumber will check the boiler, pipes and taps and will also bleed the radiators. They will show tenants how to set their heating, turn off the water in the event of an emergency and make sure stop cocks are accessible.

A WinterReady bag will also be distributed to older tenants through a range of channels, including sheltered housing complexes and Silver Deal arts and exercise classes for the over 60s.

The bags contain useful items including:

• hot water bottle

• knitted hat

• scarf

• temperature gauge

• torch

• leaflets offering advice on how to stay warm in your home.

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GHA Chair Gordon Sloan said: “Last winter was one of the worst Glasgow has faced in many years and it hit our elderly and disabled tenants really hard. The home checks are a great way to get your heating system and water pipes ready for winter.

“We can’t stop the bad weather coming back again, but we can help tenants carry on with their every day lives as much as possible.”

Glasgow City Council Leader Gordon Matheson joined GHA Chair Gordon Sloan and renowned Scottish musician Alastair McDonald in Cardonald to launch the campaign.

Councillor Gordon Matheson said: “GHA’s WinterReady campaign complements the Council’s own winter preparedness plans which we’ve been working on for some months.

“Building on last year’s performance we have updated and reviewed our winter maintenance plan so we expect a good level of performance and are confident that we have the flexibility to cope with whatever winter throws at us.

“Last year we were successful in keeping the city moving and open for business through implementing our full winter maintenance plan 24 hours a day for more than a month.

“Hundreds of staff worked around the clock to target 570 miles of priority carriageway, 215 miles of priority footway and maintain a network of self-help salt bins.

“This year, we are equally if not better prepared having reviewed our plan taking into account operational experience, feedback from the public and guidance from elected members and stockpiling our salt supplies.”

The opening event took place at Cardonald Church on the South Side at a Silver Deal exercise class for the over 60s.

Some of GHA’s Modern Apprentices were on hand to join in with the class and present the WinterReady bags.

GHA has around 14,000 tenants who are over 60.

(GK)